Delong

Chapter 379: The Four Fields (13)

"Uncle, are we voting for the surname Wang?"

As soon as Wang Daiji left, on his way back, his nephew Guo Zhu came to question him.

"First of all, of the so-called six counties in Huaixi, only Yiyang is in the south of Huai River, and the reason why Yiyang County can survive in Huainan is because there are mountains in the west and us in the east... In other words, the Huaiyou League has only one We are a family of forces, we are fighting alone, this is a force." With his head bowed and his hands behind his back, Wen Ren Xun'an carefully analyzed it for his nephew as he walked. "Secondly, if Du Pozhen chooses to enter Huainan, I will definitely be his pawn seriously, but Du Pozhen obviously wants to stabilize his surroundings of Xuanpao City first, and then clean up Huaibei. Huainan is an abandoned son. What Wang Daiji said here is correct, we are his confidantes, and if we do not reconcile, we will immediately fall into conflict, so at this time, we are the first-class hilltops under Wang Daiji's subordinates, this is called time..."

"But can Wang Daiji succeed?" Guo Zhu interrupted impatiently. "He is a grammatical official, who only knows the provisions of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment. He hastily acquired the four counties, and all the soldiers and horses were recruited temporarily. In contrast, there is such a big and well-organized Dragon Clan behind Leader Du's place." ! If Chief Zhang sits in the world, what shall we do?"

"First of all, we didn't join the Dragon Sect." Wen Ren Xun An continued to answer seriously. "We are the people who got along with the Huaiyou League and separated from the Huaiyou League before joining the Chulong Gang... Therefore, the Chulong Gang will not control us, let alone treat us as traitors; secondly, rely on Wang Daiji Judging from his behavior today, and his past interactions with Zhang Sanlang, he is probably not a mortal, and the future may not be easy to talk about; finally, Huainan has always been the core of the struggle between the North and the South, so don't talk about Wang Daiji and Du Pozhen In the future, I'm afraid there will be Zhang Xing, Xiao Hui, and Bai Hengyuan, and as long as we have Huainan's foundation, we will have three points of confidence in facing anyone."

Guo Zhu thought for a while, and continued to ask: "But how can we achieve great things in this way, isn't it just a business with guaranteed capital? It depends on people's eyes."

"Do you think it's easy to keep capital and trade in troubled times?" Wen Ren Xun'an was speechless, and finally stopped outside the gate of the inner city.

Guo Zhu thought about it again, without arguing: "Don't all the big families bet separately? Then uncle, you come to watch the house, and I will vote in Huaibei?"

Wenren Xun'an was startled, but did not reply to his nephew, but bowed his head and entered the inner city without saying a word.

The county guard heard about the battle on the front line and knew that the ten thousand army was wiped out, so he was stunned on the spot.

It can be regarded as securing the upstream fulcrum of Xuanpao City.

"It's not easy to destroy the dam. It depends on whether you, Chief Mang, can do your best. Besides, Song Changsheng has a fierce personality. He will get on top of him whenever he gets into a fight. He may not be entangled." Du Pozhen immediately answered with a voice. But suddenly he lowered down again, and spread out the wet loess in his hands for everyone to see. "As for the problem of water storage, I hope they think so, because as I expected, there will be autumn rain in a few days, and this place is a place where many tributaries converge. The so-called sudden heavy rain under a long drought, It is very likely that the water will suddenly rise overnight...so, we don't need to hold on for long."

But the county guard was still uneasy, and after confirming that Song Changsheng and Hei Shou had all escaped, he even asked Hu Yan to quickly organize his armaments, recruit strong men and government servants, and then strengthen the city defense and take in the defeated soldiers.

As he said that, he also tried his best to create a ray of light, igniting the sundries and buildings protruding from the water, and jumped and fled to the north.

After several days in a row, the result was as expected by Hu Yan. Du Pozhen took advantage of the power of the weather and was defeated in the first battle. Yingchuan, Xiangcheng County had [-] soldiers, and Dongdu had [-] elites. The strength of the Western Army was limited, and they relied more on the navy, but they just took advantage of the situation to force down the cities of Beiwu and Ye County in the south.

As a result, at this time, not only the [-] official reinforcements from Xiangcheng County upstream arrived, but Dongdu also sent an old Ying Yanglang general to arrive with [-] elite troops.Moreover, this Lang will be called Song Changsheng, and he is the beloved disciple of Yu Jieluo, the great general of the master. command.

"No wonder it's not what we should say." Yingchuan prefect continued to sigh. "Then the time when Liang County changed flags was about the same time that Yancheng was flooded. The result was Zhao Tuo from Huaiyang County. It is estimated that at almost the same time he knew that the [-] imperial army in the northwest was gone, and the Wu family who deposed the Dragon Gang The brothers led the army straight to the city of Zhe to the northeast of him, and in panic, he followed Li Shu's persuasion to surrender and changed the flag... not only changed the flag, but also accepted the post of general manager signed by the three thieves Zhang himself."

Just as he was hesitating, the sky had already gradually brightened, and the city was flooded with water, and countless people were drowned.Then I saw countless Huaixi troops, all coming in big and small boats. The big boats went around the city, beating drums and waving flags, only shooting arrows at the city wall full of officers and soldiers, demonstrating, and calling for surrender. They are all lightly armored and long soldiers, sailing through the streets and alleys like walking on flat ground. When they see the surviving officers and soldiers on the roof, they use long soldiers to poke them and force them to surrender.

Hu Yan and the county magistrate tried their best to sit comfortably, but they couldn't sleep. Then they couldn't bear it when they saw the water in the city gradually rising.As a result, the rain kept whirring, but after the second watch, it actually became smaller, which made the two of them feel relieved, and even fell into a drowsy sleep, but when it was the fourth watch, it suddenly poured down like a supreme being angry, It woke up the two of them.

It was like this for two or three days in a row.

Obviously, Du Pozhen was determined to take Yancheng.

When the generals heard the words, they stood up solemnly on the embankment.

However, how could the two of them not know that this is the hub on the north bank of the Jianghuai River, where are the thousands of horses and drums coming from?Such movement and stillness must be the might of Heaven under the torrential rain overnight.And since Tianwei is moving, how can manpower stop it?
They also looked at each other in blank dismay, ashamed.

No one responded, and everyone knew that Leader Du, Longtou Du, and Commander Du had wanted to say this for more than a year and a half.

Sure enough, within a short while, the port city on the south side could be heard like thunder and howls of the wind, and countless soldiers began to cry and cry. The city collapsed, and the water underfoot continued to swell, and there were cries in all directions, even in some depressions.

"In that case." Mang Jingang frowned. "Then how about letting go? Go back along Rushui, and then send someone to pretend. Or just wait for Li Longtou to really force Huaiyang into reverse, and let the people of Huaiyang really do the internal response?"

The county magistrate thought about it for a while, and felt that this was the most appropriate way, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and made an appointment tomorrow to bring the remaining strong men in the city to help.

Seeing that Song Changsheng has a typical Guanlong army temper, he is even more unwilling to get involved.

"I have a plan." At this moment, Du Pozhen, who had been looking at the dirt in his hand, suddenly said. "How about we flood Yancheng?"

As a result, there was already a foot of water in the city at this time, and it was rising faster and faster. The county magistrate was fine at the beginning, but it was difficult to walk halfway. Hu Yan was a master of strange scriptures in his early years, and he is even more serious On the way, he wanted to help, and was ready to lift the other party up regardless of decency.

In the end, he became someone else's godson, but Guo Zhu could only nod.

"There is a problem." Ma Sheng, who was in charge of ship deployment, answered seriously. "The downstream is all in our hands. How can we explain that the reinforcements from the government army easily passed through our water defense line? Are we going to make a show in person? If we are doing a show, how far can we not be seen through? Are we going to burn our own boat?"

The county magistrate was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he could only be obedient, but he was still worried, so he came to look for the captain of the county again. He was an old man named Hu Yan. Well, let's make a detailed report:
"Lord Captain Hu feels that what these locals say is absolutely correct. I have been here for several years, and I have seen several dangerous situations where the water rose too violently, and what they said is also right. After the severe drought, the river , There are too many debris in the ditch, but it is easy to silt up, and then flood, which can be seen in the city. As for the Huaixi thief, they specially stationed the army on the opposite slope, and then built dams up and down at the same time. There are so many ships, the meaning of water attack is too obvious. As for us, although we have a city, we have no defenses. We have been attacking for days, only wanting to break through the dams, but we are not even prepared for wooden fences and high platforms to store military supplies and prevent flooding. Once the water is too dangerous, you should make plans early."

Then, here he met Fu Boshi who almost became his godfather.

However, the plan was decided in the evening, but in the first half of the night, there was a strong autumn wind and heavy rain.

However, the matter is of great importance, and he also knows the pros and cons, so he hesitated again and again, and finally gritted his teeth and nodded: "Your Excellency is absolutely right, but General Song got angry, we can't provoke him again for a while, but tomorrow I will use the county soldiers First, set up wooden fences and high platforms, move the army rations there, and then raise the garrisons of the troops later... It only takes a day or two for him to build a dam like this, and it is impossible to damage the city wall. It's done."

"As for Xiao Guo, you stay here and work with Kan Leng, you are all familiar with it." Du Pozhen continued to make arrangements. "From now on, I will treat you just like I treat Kan Leng and the others...let's rest."

On September [-]th, Guo Zhu saw Du Pozhen, Kan Leng, Yue Qi, Fan Shiyong, Ma Sheng, Shou Jingang, and even Mang King Kong on the embankment here... In the past, the team of the Huaiyou League almost came out in full force, and they also recruited Mang Gangang, a foreign aid who was not only inside but not outside. The warships and grain ships almost blocked Rushui.

"Two bad news." The sheriff said helplessly. "Cao Wang of Liang County and Zhao Tuo of Huaiyang County have been flirting with the dragon thief, you should know?"

In fact, when the Huaixi Army first arrived, facing a lineup of only [-] Yingchuan soldiers, plus a captain of Ningdan, they could use their strength directly, attack both land and water, and try to seize the city defense in a wave by relying on superior forces. But obviously, the Huaixi army seemed a little careless (or maybe cautious), and they waited for another two or three days until Mang Gangang with the highest cultivation level arrived with his troops before attempting to attack the city.

Seeing that the dam was gradually being built, and on September [-]th, it suddenly rained. The rain was not heavy, but the ground was muddy. In the evening, I came to find Song Changsheng and explained the risks in detail.

And arrived at Xuanpao City on September [-]th.

This time, everyone was frustrated.

Guo Zhu understood and didn't say much. On the same day, he gathered [-] companions, opened the treasury, took enough weapons and dry food, and took dozens of horses and donkeys. He left the city north early the next morning. On the way, I found a wild port and went to the other side.

Yue Qi was getting old and already lacking in energy, so he naturally agreed after hearing the words.

Yesterday Mang Jingang called for battle on the narrow ground in the east of the city, the opponent didn't panic at all, he dressed neatly and went out of the city to fight.

Hu Yan had no choice but to respond with all his strength: "Dare to ask the Fujun, what is the bad news?"

"You can be called the leader or the commander-in-chief, don't keep calling him the leader." Du Pozhen reminded, and ordered by the way. "In any case, we must be on guard against the other side. Go back to Xuanpao and discuss it with the old assistant. Let's not worry about Huaihang, just lock the mouth of Rushui to ensure the safety of Xuanpao City."

In the afternoon of the same day, I arrived at Yingchuan County alone, but found that Song Changsheng hadn't come at all. Knowing that he had gone back to the Eastern Capital, he went to the county guard and reported to him regardless of his mess.

"It's a gamble! There are only two dams in the area. If you lose the bet, you lose the bet, but if you win the bet..." Du Pozhen glanced around at this point, with sharp eyes and words. "A real man was born in this world. If he wants fame and territory, he has to get it himself. What's the point of relying on others every day?! Don't you want to win a big game with your own skills?"

Hu Yan hesitated for a moment, why didn't he know that what the other party said was absolutely correct, and how could he not know that the other party only thought that he was an official sent by Jing'antai in the eastern capital, so he could speak in front of Song Changsheng?But in fact, because he is Bai Yousi's old subordinate and Zhang Xing's old boss, he usually only does things in a low-key manner, and he doesn't want to show any prestige.

On the contrary, Mang Jingang frowned slightly: "The idea is good, but what if the other party also notices the timing? So what if Song Changsheng desperately wants to destroy the embankment? How effective is it?"

It seems that the Huaixi Army's water attack has worked. The upstream releases water, and the downstream stops it. The flood is flooding towards Yancheng.

The two did not dare to neglect, they immediately fled to the city wall, hugged each other and stood there, hesitating for a while whether to abandon the army and flee, but they were both honest people, and they really didn't have the guts.

Mang Gangang immediately rubbed his head and laughed: "Commander Du, don't attack with water just because I said fire."

"Don't be afraid." The sheriff said helplessly. "Someone has to go there because it's so important, and he has to go there quickly, and he has to meet Zhong Cheng. It can't be me, the sheriff, right?"

Just when Hu Yan thought the matter was over and was about to wait for Dongdu to deal with it, the sheriff suddenly found him again.

Unexpectedly, Song Changsheng was from the north, how could he know the power behind the hydrological conditions in the Jianghuai region?Coupled with the continuous days of fighting, Dou Namang King Kong could not stop, and he was already impetuous, so he immediately scolded: "You think I don't want to tear down those two dams?! Or do you think I'm just going out these few days to show off?! If it's true If you have the heart, follow me tomorrow and personally lead the troops to grab the embankment. If you don’t dare, what’s the point of just urging me? Wouldn’t it just shake the morale of the army?!”

"The camp will be moved now." Seeing this, Du Pozhen got up immediately. "Starting tomorrow, I will personally be in charge of building the dam upstream, and Ma Sheng will be in charge of the downstream... Song Changsheng will be handed over to Chief Mang, and Kan Leng and Lao Fan will be in charge of not only the troops blocking the shore, but also the two captains in the city."

Mang Jingang continued to make up his mind: "Why don't you ask Liang Jun to see if you can invite Wu Dalang and Wu Erlang over here, suddenly..."

After Guo Zhu left, the people on the embankment did not move. Without him, there was no explanation as to how the city was broken. They gathered here before to discuss this matter.

But when the two of them were standing in the water in the city, they suddenly heard loud noises from the southwest. It seemed that there were thousands of horses vying to be the first, and a thousand drums were beating together. woke up.

"I'm not joking." Du Pozhen answered seriously. "We moved down the camp a little, across the river to the highland diagonally opposite Yancheng, and then built dams across the city at the same time, so as to prevent the continuous flow of enemy reinforcements from the upstream and store water for future Water attack."

"I know." Captain Hu answered bravely. "But doesn't it mean that everyone understands?"

In this way, the large-scale actions of the Huaixi Army naturally triggered a reaction in the city. Song Changsheng went out of the city to the west that day, trying to lead troops from the north bank to obstruct the dam construction. With all his strength, the one fighting Song Changsheng was earth-shaking.

Kan Leng immediately shook his head: "I'm thinking about pretending to be slack or withdrawing troops first, letting go of the river, and how to be willing to damage my own ships."

"I don't blame him." On the embankment, Du Pozhen's expression became tense, his hands were calloused with a handful of wet loess, and his words were flat. "He has worked hard in Huainan for the past two years. When I asked him to leave that day, I probably knew what would happen today. What's more, Xiao Guo, you can still come now. You are already loyal enough. If there is a chance in the future, I will try my best to be considerate. ...However, with Wang Daiji's ability, I have to guard against... Lao Yue!"

Everyone is awe-inspiring.

Fu Boshi, who seemed a little depressed, was not surprised when he heard the other party's words, and he was not angry at being robbed of his love. He just nodded and comforted him, and then sent the other party along Rushui to the upstream front line Yancheng .

"How is the fire?" Mang King Kong continued to try. "Their water fortress is so thick, and they want to go out of the city to build a fortress? Attack with fire!"

Hu Yan's scalp was numb, but he could only bow his hands: "Your Majesty, the lower officials are also afraid of Zhongcheng."

"Captain Hu... You can go too!" The county magistrate was helpless. "If you leave, I can surrender too."

Fan Shiyong and Shoujingang also shook their heads, saying no.

Everyone was lost in thought, quite interested.

"I have a plan." Kan Leng waited for a while, and when he saw that the others were silent, he spoke seriously. "Didn't Zhao Tuo in Huaiyang insist on calling himself an official army? Can the troops be disguised as soldiers and horses from Huaiyang, sneak into the downstream Yingshui waterway at night, and come back from that road during the day, only to lie to the other party that it is true?" Zhao Tuo's reinforcements entered the city, so as to make flowers bloom inside and outside?"

Hu Yan was not surprised, but just sighed: "Half of Liang County has been taken away by the Dragon Gang, and the local officials have also been taken away long ago. Song City is too far to the east, so it's no wonder Governor Cao."

"Be considerate in the past, but now that the situation is like this, no one is willing to be considerate, at least the Dragon Gang is unwilling to be considerate... The first news is that Li Shu in the Dragon Thieves took the Wu brothers as the vanguard and sent troops to Liang. The county directly and easily defeated Gushu, which is only [-] or [-] miles south of Songcheng, the county government, and then suppressed the territory with a large army, mobilized the internal response, and forced Liang County to change its banner." The county guard tried his best to say. "It's just that I don't know whether it was the prefect Cao's own promise, or whether he was put under house arrest by his subordinates."

"Captain Hu, I know you are an old man from Jing'an Terrace." The county guard's complexion was pale, his hair was sticky, and it was obvious that he had worked hard for days. "So no matter how hard the city defense here is, there is something that you need to go to and explain to Zhong Cheng in person..."

Now, the two were completely uneasy, so they wanted to go to see Song Changsheng together.

"Besieging the city is not acceptable." The Huaiyou League, which was suppressed by Zuo Youxian in the past, now has no shortage of alchemy masters, and Fan Shiyong, who was in his prime, is one of them, and he is pointing fingers at this time. "Because the water village at the ferry crossing in the south of the city can't get through, and there is a steady stream of reinforcements from the upper reaches of the army; it is also difficult to attack the city, because the army and horses are enough to fill the city without leaking, and they can still worry about a few water villages. I saw them again today. To set up a stronghold in the north of the city, it is obvious that there will be reinforcements in a few days, so we must act like horns and build a multi-layered defense line; we are counting on the masters to crush them and force a breakthrough, needless to say, Song Changsheng is really powerful!"

Hu Yan was drenched all over, and with a wry smile, he just cupped his hands at the other party: "This time I am sorry for your Excellency. Your family lives in the county town. I will do my best to Zhou Xuan. You just need to survive."

"It's easy to build a dam, but with Song Changsheng in the enemy army, it's also easy to destroy the dam, right?" Skinny King Kong analyzed seriously. "Besides, it has been drought for more than half a year, and there is very little water in the upper reaches. Our big ships are struggling to move forward. After building the dam in a hurry, can we really store enough water to wash away Yancheng?"

It was Hu Yan who spoke carefully and told the other party that the Huaixi Army relied on the navy and it was impossible to go further to the north. After taking Yancheng, at most, they would take advantage of the rising water in autumn and take the counties in the south of the county along the tributary of Rushui River. That's all.

Because I can't see where the way to win and defeat the enemy is.

Veteran Yue Qi immediately clapped his hands together: "Leader."

"What year and month is that?" Kan Leng immediately shook his head. "Why don't you wait until winter comes?"

The two were visible to the naked eye, and the whole army quickly collapsed.

Suddenly, a stream of light flew up and hurried north without being stopped by anyone. After a while, another stream of light went straight to the west without any obstruction. Seeing this scene, the whole army was completely powerless, and there were people kneeling and begging everywhere for a while.

In addition, Yancheng has a very distinctive feature, that is, the two major tributaries of the Huaihe River, Rushui and Yingshui, and multiple upstream tributaries of the two major tributaries meet here. There are natural factors and human factors, and Yancheng is At this junction, a city is built next to the river on the north bank of the river, with Cangcheng inside and Gangcheng outside.This feature made Du Pozhen's troops successfully push up against the current to the front of the city, and at the same time, reinforcements from the government and troops, food and grass, etc. were also easily and continuously arrived at Yancheng along other tributaries.

Hu Yan originally wanted to say that Zhao Tuo's situation had no other source, but when he thought of the embarrassment of the Li Qingchen brothers and sisters being kicked out by the other party, he couldn't say anything sympathetic.Especially since he was about to be responsible for telling the bad news of these two top players to his own family.

"That day in Luoxia, Dongdu, when Zhang San was my subordinate Baishou, how did you know that that guy would stir up such a situation in only three or four years?" Hu Yan never told anyone about his relationship with Zhang Xing in the past. , is the kind of avoidance, but after digesting the news at this time, especially thinking of the big defeat that his family experienced, he couldn't help but feel a sense of panic and confusion. "That day in the capital, even if I saw that the other party was extraordinary, I only thought that this guy wanted to be the Lord of the Nan Yamen. How could I become a thief and come to this point?"

The Lord of Yingchuan Mansion was stunned for a moment, and thought about it in the autumn rain, but he just waved his hand, urging him to go to Dongdu as soon as possible.

PS: Happy Women's Day everyone!

(End of this chapter)